Remembering Memorial Day Forever

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Memorial Day Facts You May Not Know

Memorial Day dates back to the Civil War when 620,000 Union and Confederate soldiers died – a figure that goes well beyond those American soldiers that lost their lives during both World Wars.

Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because of the custom to honor the memories of deceased soldiers by placing bouquets, laurels and the American flag upon the servicemen’s grave stones.

The first place to accept Memorial Day as a commemorative holiday was NY State.

In the Arlington National Cemetery, lay the remains of a Vietnam War soldier, widely understood as ‘The Unknown Soldier’. With the advent of modern Forensic DNA testing, the bones have been recognized as belonging to Air Force pilot Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie who died in 1972 when his plane fell in South Vietnam. Because of the recent identification, the remains have been interred and reburied close to the once unknown soldier’s hometown of St. Louis.

Custom has it to fly the US flag at half-mast until noontime; afterwards the flag is raised to full height till the sun sets.

The practice of wearing a ‘silk’ red poppy originates from the famed First World War poem, “In Flanders Fields’. Purchasing the wearable red poppies helps support the efforts of the Veterans of Foreign Wars organization.

Many people lay the American flag atop graves located within national cemeteries; many honor dead soldiers by visiting cemeteries where they are buried.

The National Moment of Remembrance was created to unite around the country in commemoration of the fallen soldiers by pausing from all activity for one minute at 3 o’clock in the afternoon.

In 2005, the American Automobile Association estimated that 36 million folks traveled a minimum of fifty miles away from home to celebrate Memorial Day with family and friends.

Besides commemorating American soldiers that lost their lives during battle, Memorial Day symbolizes the start of the summer break.

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